Choroiditis
The term choroiditis unites a large group of diseases of inflammatory origin, developing in the choroid or choroid of the eye.
Isolated choroiditis is rarely observed, since the pathological process usually involves the retina and optic nerve at the very beginning, resulting in chorioretinitis, neuroretinochoroiditis or neurouveitis .
The occurrence of inflammatory diseases of the choroid of the eye is caused by bacterial, viral, parasitic, fungal, toxic, radioactive and allergic agents.
The disease can be a manifestation of a number of systemic medical conditions.
Most often, inflammation of the choroid is caused by such infections as toxoplasmosis, tuberculosis, histoplasmosis, toxocariasis, candidiasis, syphilis and viral infections, mainly from the herpes group, which can cause the clinical picture of acute neuroretinal choroiditis or cause highly disseminated chorioretinitis in conditions of immunosuppression, most often in a disease such as AIDS or in the presence of transplanted organs.
Chorioditis – what are the symptoms
Depending on the extent of its spread, the inflammation can be focal, multifocal and diffuse.
Complaints such as frequent blinking, flying “flies” before the eyes, blurring and weakening of visual acuity, floating “clouds”, distortion of objects.
Initial symptoms of hen blindness appear when the inflammatory process is localized in the back of the eye, where the pathological process covers the retina and vitreous body.
With a peripheral location of the source of inflammation, complaints are often absent and the disease is discovered accidentally during ophthalmoscopy.
The examination reveals chorioretinal infiltrates and paravascular exudates, which correspond to scotoma in the eyes.
In active inflammation of the fundus, grayish or yellowish lesions with unclear contours are visible, passing into the vitreous body, and retinal vessels pass over them without interruption.
Inflammation foci can be different in size and shape, but they are usually spherical, and their size is equal to 0.5-1.5 of the disc of the optic nerve.
Rarely, small or very large foci of inflammation are observed. During this period, bleeding in the choroid, retina and vitreous body is possible.
As the inflammatory process progresses, a clouding of the retina above the choroidal focus is noticed, the small vessels of the retina in the area of ​​inflammation become invisible.
In individual cases, opacity develops in the posterior part of the vitreous body due to the infiltration of cellular elements and the formation of membranes.
What are the complications?
The inflammatory process may be complicated by secondary degeneration and exudative retinal detachment, subsequently developing neuritis that progresses to secondary optic nerve atrophy and extensive hemorrhages in the vitreous body.
Hemorrhages in the choroid can lead to the formation of rough outgrowths of connective tissue and to the formation of neovascular membranes, which is accompanied by a significant decrease in visual acuity.
Treatment of choroiditis
Treatment should be individual, and its intensity and duration are determined by the infectious agent, the severity and localization of the process and the expression of the immune system reaction.
In this regard, drugs that are used for etiotropic and anti-inflammatory /non-specific/, correcting the immune system, symptomatic, affecting the complex regenerative and biochemical processes in the structures of the eyes, membrane protectors, etc.
The systemic administration of preparations is combined with local parabulbar and retrobulbar injections and, if necessary, with surgical treatment.
Etiotropic treatment involves the use of antiviral, antibacterial and antiparasitic drugs, but a broad-spectrum antibiotic is prescribed only if it is established that the infectious agent is sensitive to it.
